The Enemy of my enemy
by wild demonic angel
Summary: After 4th yr. Harry ponders his future. he finds it to be 2 predictable and sets out to change that and free himself of the chains of being the savior of the wizarding world. HP/SS/TR Slash, Dark not evil HP, Dark not evil Voldy. Sev is loyal to voldy! Sirius live!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**: all my readers probably hate me. I haven't updated in for ever but I swear I have good reason. You see I had all the new chapters for my stories done and would have posted them in late july had they not been stolen, along with half my and my roommates things, during my first week at college. And yes I am in college and my old computer is totally FUBAR so I only have internet access at school. Which I really busy at. You see? **BUT**, before the hordes of Pissed off readers swarm me, I wanted to let everyone know that I will be getting another computer within a couple of weeks. So if everyone can hang on then I will be happy to update ASAP. You wouldn't believe how hard it was to get even this small chapter for my new story down. I would have used that time to update something but this story was one of those things that I just HAD to get written down somewhere, yknow? Well, enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the Harry Potter books or any characters found therein. I make no profit from these stories. Hell, the plots not even really mine. The syntax and diction of the story is all I own.

Harry Potter sat in his bedroom at Number 4 Privet Drive. As he starred out the window from his position curled up on the bed he thought about his life and the things that always seemed to happen to him. It was true that those things were his fault to some small degree, but mostly the blame rested on the shoulders of the entire wizarding world, and Albus Dumbledore of course. The meddling old man had repeatedly presented him with the promise of mystery and adventure. What naïve teenage boy could resist? But after last year and the triwizard tornament, Harry had learned. The death of Cedric had almost been his own death.

After having starved himself for half the summer he was almost skin and bones. The only thing that had kept him alive was aunt Petunia's bi-weekly visits to shove some form of food down his throat ranting about not having 'those freaks' in her house because he was too stupid to eat. He was now utilizing the quite of his surroundings to think things over.

After the past four years and all he had been through, Harry could easily guess what would happen upon his return to Hogwarts. He would get through the first couple days of classes fine before some new mystery or some odd behavior would catch his eye. No matter how much he would try to ignore it, Ron's constant need to have his life threatened and Hermione's insatiable curiosity would drag him in deeper and deeper. And the wonderful Headmaster, defeater of the dark wizard Grindlewald, would stand by, watching it all happen and occasionally giving little clues to help the three students endanger themselves and those around them.

Somewhere along the way, the wizarding world would read some of the trash that Rita Skeeter wrote and turn against him like they always did. If you asked him, it didn't seem like a good idea to piss off the person that you believed to be your only chance at survival. But that was just him. And all of this was becoming a routine that he was sick and tired of. To tell the truth he didn't think he even cared what happened to the wizarding world anymore. Sure, the Weasley's had been nice to him, but Ron was always one of the first to turn against him when some rumor or other got out about him and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had done nothing when they had discovered that he had been locked up in his room with bars on the windows in Second year. He would still protect them if he could but the fact was that he was getting so worn down that he wasn't sure he could protect himself anymore, let alone the whole wizarding world.

The conclusion that came from all of this thinking was simple. He was tired. He was tired of the rumors and the lies and people that were supposed to be his friends turning on him at the drop of the hat. He was tired of being manipulated by Dumbledore and insulted by that bumbling idiot that called himself the Minister of Magic. He was tired of being expected to play the worthy hero and being expected to suffer all these injustices with gentle understanding. He was fourteen going on fifteen and he was fucking exhausted of the expectations of others. A sudden revelation caused Harry to jump off the bed and to his feet.

He quit. He couldn't take it anymore so he would quit following their rules and quit living up to their expectations. He would do what HE wanted to. From now on things were going to change. And Harry knew just what he wanted to change first. In a flurry of movement Harry started to gather what things he had been able to keep in his room upon his arrival and wrapped them up in the ratty blanket from his bed. He quickly changed into his best muggle clothes before letting Hedwig outside with instructions to meet him at the leaky cauldron. With one final glance at the clock he headed downstairs and used a wandless _alohamora_ (one of the few wandless spells he knew) to open the cupboard where his stuff was usually kept. After he had lugged everything outside he used his wand to shrink his luggage and signal the knight bus. He looked around at the other inhabitants before he realized that the driver was talking to him.

"Huh?" Harry asked, having been too distracted to hear the question.

"I said, Where to, mate?"

" Oh, uh, the leaky cauldron please."

"You got it." Replied the drive before the bus once again flew forward. As he got comfortable on one of the beds, Harry thought about the future and was all to glad to realize that for once, things where on _**his**_ hands.

_**TBC…**_

**A/N:** so? What did you think? I get a lot of reviews I'll stay late at school in order to update something. Just be sure to write the name of the story of mine that you want updated and I'll see what I can do. Thank you guys for being so patient and not flaming me to death! Cookies all around!


	2. The Next Step

When they finally arrived, Harry pulled up the hood of his cloak and shrunk and pocketed his things. Waving goodbye to Stan he took a deep breath and entered the pub.

Inside it was as dimly lit as always. Being so early in the morning, there were only a few people (and/or creatures, he really couldn't tell) sitting in the main room. Making his way over to Tom he paid for a room for the next couple nights. He would have to make a trip to Gringotts soon to pick up some more cash.

After making his way to the indicated room, Harry resized his stuff and placed them at the end of the bed. He hurriedly opened the window so that Hedwig could enter.

Sitting on the edge of the bed he looked around the small room. "Well girl, looks like this will be our new home for awhile." he said to the owl who was currently cleaning her wings.

Swinging his legs up onto the bed he rested his head into the cradle of his hands on the pillows and crossed on leg over the other. Staring at the cracked and stained ceiling he started thinking of the future and what he would make of it. One thing was for sure, it would be a very busy year.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -The Next Morning-

After dressing and having a quick breakfast, Harry pulled up his hood and made his way around back and into Diagon Ally.

He ignored most of the window displays and, after a small detour at a Quidditch supply store, he made his way to Gringotts.

He nervously approached one of the goblins and asked to make a withdrawal as well as to lookover a copy of his family assets. The goblin led him over to a door along a far wall that he had not noticed before.

As he passed throuhg the door he was surprised to find that it was an office decorated with plush green carpet, soft green chairs, and a deep mahogony desk with gold studs visible on the bottom of each of the four legs. Sitting in a chair opposite the desk, he waited for the creature to begin.

"Well Mr. Potter, Begin I would like to ensure that you are aware of the likelyhood of a creature inheritance?"

"A what inheritance?" He hadn't heard anything about any inheritances besides what was in his vault and a few properties that his dad had owned.

"Hmm.." the goblin (the nameplate on the desk said 'NibGit') was quiet for a few moments as he searched through a file that he had summoned. Finally he pulled out a small stack of papers and looked lthrought them as he continued, "It says here that your legal gaurdian upon your parents death was supposed to be one Sirius Black, however upon his arrest it was taken over by one Albus Dumbledore. Has Mr. Dumbledore not talked to you about the inheritance you will recieve upon your 15th birthday?"

"No. This is the first I'm hearing of it." Harry was seriously starting to get pissed at Dumbledore. All of the other stuff that he had done could be explained away as being 'for the greater good'. This, however, had absolutely no impact on the war.

"Then it would seem that he has been remisce in his duties as your gaurdian. If you wish, you may file a formal complaint to the proper authorities concerning this matter. An inheritance is an important thing and for a guardian to fail to exaplain it to their charge is not something that is taken lightly. If your complaint is accepted then you will be removed from his care and either placed in the care of someone of your choosing or emancipated."

"...wow. Yeah, I would definitely like to file a complaint."

"Very well. I shall have the papers retrieved as soon as we are finished with our original buisiness. Now, what you must be made aware of is that upon your 15th birthday you have the chance of any creature blood that you may have maturing. This may cause a great number of changes in both your physiology and, in rare cases, your magic. You will also gain access to the rest of your family vaults as well as Potter Manor and the entire Gryffindor Estate. You will also recieve the titles Lord Potter and Lord Gryffindor."

"Gryffindor?"

"Yes. It would seem that the Potters are the last of the Gryffindor bloodline."

Harry was ready to faint. He had at times suspected that there were things about his heritage that may have been kept from him, but the heir of Gryffindor? Closing his eyes he took a couple of slow, deep breaths. When he reopened them, NibGit was standing in front of him with a glass of water which he gratefully accpeted. "So what does all this mean? The titles, the land, the possible creature blood: what does any of it mean? I know that I'll be rich but besides that..."

"Hmm..Well the title of Lord in any situation means that you will have a great deal more influence. In the Wizarding world, the Title lord was originally given to those who performed important tasks for the magical world. Our records indicate that the Potters Gained that title by dealing with Magical Creatures and the law concerning them. However, Since the death of the last Lord Potter, the duties have been split amongst a number of people. In fact, their are few Lords today that still fullfill the duties originally given to their family as the duties were provided them at a time in history when Wizarding Britain was ruled by a council of wizards. Since the ministry has come into being, the duties that had been assigned to the lords has been taken on by the ministry. However, I'm sure you can attempt to regain the responsibilities if you so wish. With the Title of Lord Gryffindor you also gain a certain amount of control over Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The amount of control you gain over the school is dependant on the number of surviving founder descendants as well as the current state of the school and the creature blood that you inherit, if any."

"..." Harry was quite certain that if he moved he would pass out. He was in complete and utter shock. Since when had there been a Wizarding council? Why hadn't they learned about THAT in History of Magic? Oh god, what if the press got ahold of this? People everywhere he went would be calling him 'Lord Potter'. He would never be able to go out in public again. Once again taking a few deep breaths and sipping at his water, he finally aid something (much to the relief of NibGit who had started eyeing him warily, wondering if he would need to call a healer. It wasn't good for buisiness to have clients passing out) "And I get all this on my next birthday?"

"Yes."

"Will I have to stop by in order to receive the deeds or.."

"You will receive them with the morning post."

"Ah. Well then, I would like to go ahead and file that complaint Before stopping at my vault."

"Very well, Mr. Potter. I'll call for someone to send in the papers." replied NibGit as he headed toward a small fireplce.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -A Few Hours Later-

Harry kicked the door closed, dropped the mountain of packages that he held in his arms, and collpased on the bed. After Gringotts, he had wondered around both Muggle and Wizarding london looking for clothes that fit, a place to get some piercings and a goth store that sold some make-up. Now he had officially completed his new look. He was wearing black cargo pants that rode almost dangerously low on his hips, A form fitting long-sleev shirt with holes in the ends of the sleeves to slide your thumb through so that the sleeve was partially covering your hand. He also had on a layer of eyeliner that made his eyes seem to glow.

He had had green streaks of color put in his hair, and taken a mild hair growth potion so that it was now had a more shaggy look rather than 'mop'. He had on thick-soled boots that had buckles up and down the side. He had stopped by Ollivanders and gotten a second wand. Of course, it wasn't nearly as powerful as his first, but it would come in handy in a bad situation. He had gotten a potion to fix his eyes so he no longer had to wear his glasses, even though the potions price had been allmost obscene, it had been well worth it. And last but not least, were the pierceings he had gotten. He had gone to a Piercing and Tattoo parlor in muggle london and gotten three piercings in his left ear: one in the lobe and then two up the side, all of them connected by a delicate chain, and his nipples pierced, as you could see through the tight shirt.

As he Got up to start putting things away, he thought about the looks he had recieved down in the pub when he had reserved the room up until his birthday in a month. No one had really recognized him, at least not yet. When school started he was certain that a few pictures would find their way into the hands of that horrible skeeter woman and then all hell would break loose. Until then, he was quite happy to be able to walk around without a hood obscuring his veiw. 


	3. Searching

A/N:) ok. I know i had this chapter already posted, but i had a brilliant idea the will keep me from having to do alot of explaining later on. you will find out about my stroke of genius in the fourth chapter, Which I am proud to say, is finished and posted. Yay!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any characters there-in.

Chapter 3: His Search _

Harry woke up the next day with a smile on his face and warm sunlight streaming in through the window. He had just had the first good nights sleep that he had had since as long as he could remember. He felt rested and ready to face the world. With the smile still firmly in place he sat up and let the covers fall away from his naked chest as he stretched his arms over his head.

He turned to look at Hedwig, saying 'good morning' and laughing when all he got was a one-eyed glare before she returned to her slumber. Stepping out of bed, his grin only broadened when he felt the soft glide of his new egyptian cotton boxers against his skin. He had gone all out in the clothes department the day before and now had at least ten pairs of egyptian cotton boxers and ten pairs of silk boxers that had been magicked to stretch and move like regular cotton ones to make them more comfortable. Whoever had come up with that idea had been a bloody genius.

Fetching some clothes from the small, plain wardrobe in the room he headed for a shower, trying to think of what he wanted to do today. He figured that he could stop by Diagon alley. He needed to pick up a few potions books and ingredients. If he was going to stop being Dumble-Dumb's puppet then he would need to start letting his true intellect shine through. That meant that he would have to deal with his friends when they found out just how much he has kept from them about his true self. He hoped they didn't mind. He really did like having them as friends. He just hated that even the person who was supposed to be his best friend would turn on him based only on the latest unfavorable rumor about him. The frown that had covered his face quirked into a smirk as he thought of Rons reaction when he heard just how many potions Harry had purposefully sabotaged in order to fit into his role as the Gryffindor Golden Boy.

While he was in Diagon alley he might as well stop by Quality Quidditch Supplies and pick up a few things that he wanted. He was wanting to slip into Knockturn alley to check up on a couple of things as well. There was a few suspicions that he wanted to see either confirmed or proved false. It would help him more if they were confirmed but he hoped that Dumbledore hadn't been lying about that at least.

He finished showering and quickly dressed. He grabbed a cloak and headed out, being sure to greet Tom on his way out. The bar keep had been nothing but kind to him since the first time they met. Not to mention that he had been extremely discrete about Harry's staying at his Inn. Harry really appreciated it. Though he guess he should have expected as much. Tom was as loyal to Hagrid and Hagrid's friends as Hagrid himself was to Dumbledore.

As he stepped onto the crowded street, Harry kept one eye on his first destination and another on the crowd. He smirked when he saw that a few people had stopped what they were doing to look at him. He had to admit, he really liked finally being able to be himself. He headed into Quality Quidditch Supplies and barely stopped himself from laughing as the man behind the counter drooled over him for ten minutes before practically jumping over the counter to get to him.

"Welcome to Quality Quidditch Supplies. Can I help you find anything?" the taller man queried. Harry smiled at him and shook his head.

"Thank you but I know where everything is."

"Well, if your sure. Please let me know if you need anything at all. I'll be all too happy to help you."

Harry smiled again and nodded. The clerk left and he quickly gathered the things that he had wanted. After paying he hurried to the nearest apothecary. He bought a little of everything, including the more expensive and rare items.

Finally he pulled up the hood of his cloak and approached Knockturn alley.  
_

Knockturn was dark and to the untrained eye seemed abandoned. At least until someone jumped out at you trying to sell you something - or someone. Harry did his best to avoid them, but a few still managed to block his path and delay him. When he was neariing his destination, a particularly burly man managed to stop Harry before he could dodge him. As he tried to push past him, he felt the tip of a wand being jabbed into his side.

"Not so fast." the wizard said as Harry looked up at him. "Hmmm, seems like youve lost your way, ay young man? But don't you worry, i'll take good care of you. For a price of course." the mans hand slid down and groped his ass.

Harry discretely flicked his wand out of his sleeve and shoved it under the mans chin. Before he could utter the spell though the man was pulled back and thrown through the nearest window.

Harry looked where his would-be attacker had been only moments before and found himself studying a tall man with strawberry-blonde hair and odd silver-green eyes. The man was wearing skin tight black jeans that hugged every line and curve of his legs, all the way down to his almost impossibly thin calves. His shirt was a simple design. A long-sleeved, deep green, and skin tight - that seemed to be a theme with the man - V neck with a slim, black-outlined, silver infinity symbol at the tip of the 'V'. Around the strangers neck was a black, silk choker that seemed to be covered in ancient-looking symbols. The mans muggle clothing was off-set by a hooded cloak that hung off his shoulders, hood thrown back. His strength was obvious, though it didn't show in his lithe frame. It showed in the confidence of his stance and the appraising look he sent others on the street.

A look that was soon turned on Harry.

With a flick of the wrist, Harry's wand was back in its hidden sheath. Harry nodded his head to the man. "Thank you. He was starting to annoy me. Why don't I take you for a bite to eat to show my gratitude?"

"That sounds good." He replied. "I happen to know a good pub near here."

"Lead the way."

As the man turned, Harry missed the smirk on the mans face.

A/n: I know, I know, I didn't change much. But the new character is going to have a steady role in this fic and he has been 'nagging' me about his implied evil-ness in this chapter. Also, this chapter was sorta stepping on the toes of the fourth one, making it impossible. So, I'm sorry if you don't like the changes, but I hope that you'll bare with me here. You may very well come to like them. 


	4. Discovery

A/N:) Okay people, please don't kill me for what i'm about to do but its one in the morning and I haven't been sleeping well for about 2 weeks now so my imagination is about dead. So, i'm borrowing a few characters from other shows and comics. There will still be a few characters that are original. I can't really help myself in that aspect, but most-from this chapter at least-will be borrowed.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any characters there-in. I don't own the X-men or any characters there-in, I'm just borrowing a few. Ditto for the Inuyasha characters.

Chapter 4: Discovery _

As Harry followed the man, he took note of the fact that no one was willing to even look at him now, as opposed to their previous persistant behaviour. From the display of strength earlier, he had no doubt that the man before him was dangerous and this new evidence only served to prove him right.

Though the man had helped him before Harry was all too aware of the fact that most people would have ignored the situation in favor of their own matters. The mans actions could just be a sign of confidence or it could mean that he had ulterior motives. Either way, Harry decided to keep his gaurd up. He had been tricked one too many times before.

After a few minutes more of travel, they reached an area that was much wider and easier to move around. Harry was surprised to see a beautiful fountain crafted from some sort of white stone standing in the middle of what could only be described as a small town square. Sectioned circles of concrete tiles surrounded the fountain. The farther from the faountain the tiles got the darker gray they seemed to turn and the messier they seemed to get until they turned into the cracked, black, moss-covered stones that lay at Harry's feet and led further into Knockturn alley.

The buildings that lined the small clearing seemed to be mostly Pubs and Inns. The space above the fountain allowed sunlight in, which in turn created a much more cheerful atmosphere. Harry also noticed that people seemed to drift into the small square from one or two dark alleys between the buildings. When they stepped out of the shadows they would lower their hoods and opened their cloaks. Any menace they might have previously held seemed to disappear. It was this somewhat odd behaviour that finally made it click for Harry.

"Is this Haven Square?" he asked his silent companion. The man had not moved since they had reached the square, allowing him to take everything him. Something for which he was truly grateful.

"You know of it?" The man sounded - and looked - surprised. Harry didn't blame him. The only reason he even knew it existed was because of a conversation he had over heard between two Slytherin 3rd years. One of them had mentioned that their mother had been planning to meet a friend in Knockturn alley at Haven Square.

"I've heard of it." He didn't mention that this had been his planned destination all along.

After giving Harry a long look the man finally said, "Do you know of its history?" A brief shake of the head from Harry and he continued. "It was created by two of the founders of Hogwarts. Its story - or rather, the fountains since most of these buildings weren't here back then - starts directly after Salazar Slytherin left Hogwarts. When they had decided to start the school all the founders had been friends. However, as the school grew they began to argue more and more until finally Salazar left. But even then, Godric Gryffindor considered him a friend and didn't want to see him leave, so he tracked Slytherin down until he finally caught up with him here. Slytherin was still furious at what he considered the naivette of the other founders, he was famous for his short temper, so when Godric confronted him he attacked the other wizard. After a long duel which left both of them exhausted, but neither seriously injured, Gryffindor was finally able to convince his counterpart to discuss the problem with him. It took Godric almost a full day of proposing compromise after compromise to finally accept that Salazar was just too different from him and the other founders and that it would be best for all if he left the school. However, before they parted, they did reach some form of an agreement. Even though he would not be there, Slytherin House would remain open and in return, Salazar would owl him regularly in order to keep their friendship alive. Before they left they combined their magic and enchanted this whole area so that no act of violence could be commited. The fountain you see is more than just a symbol of peace, it actually keeps the enchantment going. It taps into one of the veins of 'Natural' magic that flows through the earth and supplies the spell with power."

"But I thought Slytherin and Gryffindor were enemies?"

"Thats nothing more an old rumor that has gone too far. Since the alleys that lead here are rumored to have ties to dark magic, the majority of the wizarding population never attempt to come this far. Over time its almost been forgotten, and along with it, its history. Once the knowledge of this place left the general population, all they had to go on concerning the relationship between the two founders was the fact that they had a difference of opinion which caused Salazar to leave."

"Makes sense I guess. I have more questions if you don't mind, but first lets get something to eat. I'm starving."

"Of course." The stranger led Harry to a small pub off to the side with a plain wooden door. 


	5. Another Step

A/N:) Here it is! Another chapter produced by the ever elusive me! I hope that this may appease my readers for awhile. I have another fic I promised to update before I started on chapter 6 for this one. Don't kill me!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any characters there-in. I don't own Koga or his show/manga of origin. I don't own Tyr or Harper or their show of origin, But ohhh, if i did!

Chapter 5: New Friends_

When Harry rounded the corner and entered the main room of the small building he was met with complete silence. Everyone had turned to face the new arrivals. Most just gave them a quick once over and returned to their previous activities. However, a group of four men approached them.

"Derrick, we were unaware that you would be bringing company." The man's voice was stern, but the look he gave Harry was far from one of anger. The way his eyes slid over his body almost seemed...ravenous.

Harry repressed the shudder that the mans lingering gaze produced and quickly scanned the group. That man that had spoken was tall, hell they were all taller than his own 5'3'' ('and a half' said a petulant voice in the back of his head), but bulkier than Derrick. He was not as big as Hagrid, but his mucles made him seem almost as wide. He had shaggy, dark blonde hair, smooth and slightly tanned skin, a solid jaw, dark brown eyes, and thin lips. All in all, he was ruggedly handsome.

The man standing next to him seemed to have brown hair but everytime he shifted it glinted red. His pupils were a deep red that would have been frightening had it not been for the friendly grin on his pale face. He wore no cloak but instead had on dark brown robes with long, tight sleeves. The neck of the robes would have loosely hugged his throat if not for the slit in the front that went halfway down his chest. On either side the resulting flaps were folded over to reveal a tight black t-shirt. Despite the flaps the mid-section of the robes outlined the curve of his waist before flaring out at the hips to allow his legs movement without restriction.

On the other side of the man who spoke stood a man with light brown hair that was pulled back in a high ponytail. Thick, shaggy bangs fell across his forehead and dark green eyes studied him. He was dressed in loose jeans that hugged his hips and a white button up shirt thats was tucked in. The material was just thin enough to give the veiwer an idea of the mans muscled abdomen and chest. He wore and open, black robe over the outfit.

Finally, to the right of Ponytail was a man with short shaggy black hair that was slightly thicker than his own. If he turned his head the right way you could see that some of the hair at the base of his neck was sticking out from a tie in a pale imitation of a true ponytail. He had a slim jaw and deep blue, almost violet eyes. He was wearing a long, black robe that hugged the top of his chest and arms. A deep purple sash tied around the lower part of his waist made the material crimp before the rest of the robe flowed loosely around his legs. On his right wrist he wore a silver chain bracelet that had another, more delicate silver chian that reached up to connect it to a ring on his middle finger.

"I do apologize, Roarke." The stranger - Derrick - replied. "It wasn't exactly planned. I helped this young man as he was being accosted in Knockturn and by way of thanks he offered me a ...bite to eat. It would have been rude to decline."

"Phht! Yeah, I'm sure!" said Ponytail, recieving a glare and 'Quiet Koga!' from Roarke.

"And since you happened to be on your way here, you decided to bring him along?" Asked the red eyed stranger, sounding playfully annoyed. On first impression, he didn't seem like the kind of guy that took many things seriously.

"Well-"

"I actually happened to be heading this way as well." Harry interrupted. "And I do believe that Derrick, if not all of you as well, is exactly who I was looking for."

The atmosphere changed as each man registered what he had said. They looked him over more carefully, and he didn't need to see the slight shift of their robes to know that - even being in Haven square - eacn man habitualy grabbed their wand, ready to defend themselves at a moments notice.

Harry sighed. The worst thing about the instant suspicion was that he wasn't entirely sure that the war was to blame. Being what they were, these men had most likely been hunted even before Voldemort initially rose to power. He raised his hands in fornt of him in a gesture of peace. "I'm not here for trouble. I just want to talk. I have a few questions and you guys might be the only ones that I can get a straight answer from any time soon."

A long silence followed his statement and Harry hoped against hope that they would listen to him. This was an integral step in him breaking away from the old man and his schemes. If they refused to talk to him, then not only would all this have been for nothing, but it would look like he had just thrown a giant temper tantrum. As if the wizarding world didn't already think he was nothing more than a mentally unstable brat!

Finally, Derrick relaxed his stance and the others followed suit. "Alright. We'll hear you out, but if one threat leaves your mouth I won't be able to insure that you'll make it home alive." Harry nodded his assent. "Very well. C'mon. We reserved a private room for our meeting. We can see to your questions there." Harry found himself being lead into a narrow hallway. With Derrick in front of him, the rest of the group behind him, and little to no room to maneuver, he was quite nervous.

They eventually reached an odd black door decorated with crimson designs. Derrick waved Harry in, quickly followed by Roarke and the others. Everyone took a seat and the first person to talk was Roarke. "How did you know what Derrick, all of us, were?"

"It wasn't that hard really. There was the impressive amount of strength Derrick used when helping earlier. Then the behaviour of everyone after they saw I was with him. Also, the horribly obvious puns." All eyes turned to Derrick who was squirming in his seat. Harry couldn't help but smile at his embarassement. "But most telling thing was when you said his name. The last few days I've paid quite a few gallions (sp?) for information on anyone who could answer my questions. I wound up being pointed towards a Vampire named Derrick who is known to frequent Knockturn alley. I just figured by your reactions to seeing me earlier that you guys were the same."

"Damned greedy buggers! Can't keep their mouths shut for anything!" muttered the black haired vampire.

"Don't be too hard on them. I offered alot of money. Anyone in their situation would be hard pressed not to accept."

"Okay, young man. What do you want from us?" asked Derrick. Harry was preoccupied having started to see an established pecking order in the group. Derrick was obviously the leader. His second-in-command was Roarke no doubt. Ponytail - Koga, as he had been called earlier - wore clothes that didn't allow for alot of movement, but allowed him to exude a 'calm and confident' air. While his vampire abilities would make him someone you would want in a fight, Harry would bet his entire inheritance that the mans expertise was strategy. The red eyed member of the group was cocky and probably a bit of a joker. A laid back kind of guy, but his clothes were loose but not baggy, allowing for a full range of movement. And what moves too! He moved with a sort of grace that was reminiscent of a tiger stalking its prey. He was probably an assassin. The same went for his black haired counter part. "...well?"

Harry shook his head slightly to clear his thoughts, "As I have said, I sought you out because you are the only one who I know will give me straight answers. The only one who, from what I've heard, will answer with 100% fact instead of sliding in bits of old rumors or half formed ideas. Before I ask I will need to know that this is indeed the truth."

Derrick tilted his head to the side a little, obviously interested in Harry's intensity if nothing else. "I will attempt to do so to the utmost of my ability."

"Then I'll be blunt: Is it true that the vampires sided with Voldemort in the first war?"

A strained silence instantly befell the room. Chair legs minutely scraped across the floor as everyone save Harry and Derrick shifted in their seats at the uncomfortable subject. The two merely stared at each other for what seemed like forever, Harry refusing to look away and Derrick re-evaluating his opinion of the child - perhaps not so much a child as he had thought - before him. "At first we chose to remain neutral, but he did eventually persuade us to aide him. But that was a long time ago."

"Yes, it was. However, not long enough to have been forgotten. Isn't that why vampires are treated as they are today?"

"Hunh! Is THAT how they justify themselves? We were being treated like lepers and monsters long before he was even born! That was the reason we joined him in the first place!" the black haired vampire commented, ignoring the glare he recieved from both Derrick and Roarke.

"What exactly does he mean?" even as he asked, Harry had a good idea what the answer would be. He felt one last desperate hope rise in his chest that Dumbledores grandfatherly facade was more than a facade, only to have it crushed as the leader replied, "Its true. We have never been treated fairly by the Ministry. When we joined Voldemort, it was because he promised that when he gained control of the wizarding world we would be treated like citizens rather than aminals."

"And that bastard knew! He had to have known, as old as he is! And he not only helped support a government that would oppress and abuse an entire species, he helped spread the propaganda that would prepare the next generations to do the same! How much of what we learned was lies?" Harry felt so betrayed. When he had taken that first step down Knockturn Alley that morning, he had had a good idea about what he would find. But sitting here, in a room with a bunch of men who had most likely lived through the times and events that they were discussing... Men who had no idea who he was and therefore no reason to lie to him, hearing them confirm his suspicions... He had trusted the man! For two and a half years, he had looked up to this lying schemeing son-of-a bitch!

A cold, detached voice in the back of Harry's head told him that he should have expected this on-slaught of emotion. The entire time that he had suspected the old man, he had been strictly analytical about the situation. Now, however, he can remember everytime Dumbledore had touched him - a pat on the head, a comforting or approving hand on his shoulder - he can remember the rush of warmth he had felt. Those few times he had felt like someone had cared about him! Had everytime just been part of a scheme to make him trust him? Had he even once felt guilty about manipulating him? And - he HATED to think it but...- did Ron and Hermione know what Dumbledore had been doing? Mabye not Ron, but Hermione was smart. Could he really have been the only one to suspect something?

"You alright kid?" Harry looked up into the wary - and somewhat concerned - eyes of the group. It was the black haired vampire (he really needed to get all their names) who had spoken.

"Um... Yeah, I'll be fine. Can't say that it comes as a shock, but I was hoping..." He shook his head. "I've just learned alot of disconcerting things in the past few days. Thank you all for being blunt with me. I appreciate it. I still have alot of questions and I don't mean to be rude, but honestly I'm not sure I can stand to hear anymore 'hard truths' today. Uh, if you would be willing to meet me here some other time?..."

The group exchanged glances, silently coming to an agreement. The kid had sparked their interest, to say the least, and as he was now, there was no guarantee that he would make it back to wherever he was staying. It was too dangerous to let him go alone. "We'll to better than that. Where yah staying?" asked the red eyed man.

Harry was so... warn out and overwhelmed that he didn't even think before answering. "The Leaky Cauldron."

"Koga here will walk you back. We have some things to take care of first, but we'll meet you guys later. Perhaps you'll be feeling better enough later to join us for dinner!"

"Sure." He rubbed his eyes as he stood and sent a grateful smile to the group before making his way outside, closely followed by Koga.

A/N) It hasn't been beta'd and I don't have spellcheck or grammarcheck, so I will apologize for those mistakes first. Yes, Koga is the one from Inuyasha. As you can see his personality is different and he is not so gung-ho. I was gong to wait another day to finish it, but after a while the story just started picking up pace. Good Bye writers block! Anyway, I hope you guys like it. Remember to reveiw! It helps me figure out where the story is going to go next! 


	6. The Heart of the Matter

AN:) First I would like to apologize. I had told someone that I was going to update one of my Inuyasha fics before I updated this one again. I'm sorry to say that that is not possible. I'm also sorry for how long this took to get out. I hadn't counted on my computer to quit working and then refuse to accept the operating system. Unfortunately, I hadn't the foresight back-up my progress on my flashdrive. Not a mistake I'll make again, I assure. Since I'm having to start over from scratch, and I'm rushing to get this to you, I hope you'll forgive me if its not as good as it could have been. Hopefully, the next chapter will be better.

Chapter 6: The Heart of the Matter _

*Knock-knock*

Harry's head jerked up at the noise. He slid off the bed and opened the door to see Koga standing in the hall.

"Hey, kid. The others are waiting downstairs."

"Okay." Harry shut the door before following him. As they came off the stairs Harry broke away from Koga's path, saying over his shoulder "Be right back."

As Koga approached the table, Roarke turned. "Where's the kid?"  
a nod in the general direction of the bar was his answer. "How is he?"

"He seems better. At least he was alert when he opened the door. On the way back earlier I don't think he heard a word I said."

"Okay. Figured it was my turn to provide the room." said an approaching Harry holding up a key. "Apparently Tom prefers spell-proof muggle locks. Smart man."

Everyone followed Harry into a back room. Once they were seated he started by saying, "I would like it if we got properly introduced. I know most of your guys names, but thats it."

"Very well." assented Derrick. "I am Derrick Novus. I'm the Master of the Shadows - one of the largest covens in England - and Head Speaker on the Council, which is a worldwide entity that decides the laws for the vampiric communtiy.  
This is Roarke Orin, my second. Then there is Axis Wagner who specializes in intelligence gathering and, when needed, assasination. Next, Koga Akagami, strategist extraordinaire. Finally, Kurt Rhys, my war advisor. And you would be?"

Harry stared hard at the table, considering. Should he tell them the truth? Or should he use a psuedonym? They had admited to allying with Voldemort once, were they planning to do the same now? They would be deadly enemies. If they were to attack, he wasn't sure he was strong enough to survive. Especially not is such close quarters. They had the advantage. He lifted his head and scanned their faces. They would also make powerful allies and friends. Trust had to start somewhere.

"Alright, I'm 15 and attend Hogwarts. My name's Harry Potter." He was met with silence. Surprise was visible on each of their faces. Finally Axis managed a grin.

"Nice try kid. Hilarious. Now, who are you really?" he said.

"It wasn't meant to be funny." Almost simultaneously, Raorke and Kurt stood each going for their wand. Axis already had his out and pointed at him. Koga made no move and Derrick just stared at him. Finally, he jerked his arm out and to the side with his hand flat and palm facing down. Roarke and Kurt sat down - reluctantly - and Axis put his wand away.

Harry heaved a sigh of relief. They hadn't attacked. That was a good sign, right? "I understand that you probably have questions of your own now. I propose a simple exchange. I ask a question, then you ask a question."

Derrick nodded. "I believe its your turn then."

"What were the terms of your alliance with Voldemort?"

"Basically, we provided him with intel, supplies, a few fighters, and even a place for his DeathEaters to hide in case the Ministry caught on to them. In return, when he had control of the wizarding world, not only would laws be passed to integrate the various communities of magical creatures into the wizarding community, but representatives from each race of sentient magical creatures would be chosen to help decide on laws for the newly integrated communities. It would have put a stop to several small wars that have been going on between certain races for centuries."

"Alright gentlemen," said Tom as he walked in. "I took the liberty of preparing each of your standing orders. 2 pints A+ for Orin, 1 pint A+ for Koga, a pint of AB- for Axis - all standard temp - pint O- for Derrick at 96*, O+ at 99.3* for Kurt, and honeyed ham with mashed potatoes and side salad for young Harry." After he finished setting everything down, he turned to our young hero, "just make sure you drop off the key at the bar when you get ready to turn in tonight." he said before making his exit.

"So Harry, I believe we would all like to know why you don't flinch when you say his name." Derrick asked.

"Easy. Fear of the name only increases fear of the man himself. Not to mention its ridiculous." Harry said with a grin. "It's like fearing a chair because of who was sitting in it." There were a few snickers at this remark. "Now, I've heard that he's evil and power-hungry, but if he wanted to rule the wizarding world then he must have had a plan. What he would change or laws he would pass. What was that plan?"

"Thats a loaded question if ever I heard one. Other than the treatment of magical creatures, I know he had a problem with the current educational system. He wanted kids to start school earlier than current administration requires. He also wanted to have muggle-borns attend a different school for the first few years of their magic education. Magical creatures would be allowed in schools both as students and teachers.  
He wanted his DeathEaters to take over the responsibilites of the different departments at the Ministry, but he alone would lead the council that would rule the enitre magical community in England. This detail was the cause of many arguments between him and his two advisors - Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape." Derrick noted the flash of recognition in the boys eyes at the names. It wasn't surprising that he knew of Snape, but Lucius? Definitely a question to ask, but later. There were more pressing matters at hand. "Why do you want to know all this.?"

A frown fell upon Harry's face and well-worn worry lines creased his brow. "For almost 14 years I've beed manipulated and controlled by someone or another. Last year, one of the manipulations cost the life of someone who I considered a friend. Someone innocent of the grand schemes and war-games of Voldemort and Dumbledore. I've done a lot of thinking this summer and a few days ago I decided to take matters into my own hands."

"And to do that you need to check-up on all the information that you've been fed up till now. Make sure your not operating on false intel." chimed in Koga.

"Exactly." he answered with a nod. "Now what can you tell me about Riddles' school for muggle-borns?"

"Well, It would have been a temporary thing. The first year or so of their magic education would be at this seperate facility. They would have extra classes that taught them about wizarding traditions, laws, and everyday life. The idea was designed to help them settle into life in the magic community. "

"There goes about half the things I've been told about him." Harry said, rubbing his temples. A lot of what he had heard about the 'dark' wizard had come from Hagrid. While he didn't believe for a minute that Hagrid was purposely lying to him, this reminder of the half-giant brought a whole other problem to light. Mainly that Hagrid was a dear friend - one Harry didn't want to lose - but he was strictly loyal to Dumbledore. He practically worshipped the man. If he was going to get Hagrid to believe him, to join him, then he would have to have a lot of 100% undeniable, unfabricatable evidence. And, when he finally believed, Hagrid would be hurt. Harry didn't like hurting his friends. "Dumbledore has a lot to answer for."

Derrick nodded, his gaze trained on the teens troubled face. "Indeed he does." Harry was too preoccupied to notice the looks being exchanged by his companions.

"What I find interesting, is that you were able to meet with us without interference. I can't imagine that old fool allowing it. Doesn't anyone know your here? I would have thought that he'd have someone keep an eye on you."

"No, noone knows I'm here. The Headmaster thinks that he has me convinced that I'm safe at my aunts house. He thinks that I'm too scared to leave on my own, so he didn't assign anyone to watch me. Since theres only a couple weeks till my birthday, and I know that the ministry stops tracking a persons magic a month before their coming-of-age, I just used my magic to collect my things and left."

"Why do they stop tracking a persons magic a month early?" chimed in Axis.

"Lack of staff and resources. Its not a very high paying department and it has terrible hours. Not only do they have to keep track of every underaged witch and wizard in the U.K., they also have to file paper-work for every coming-of-age and birth. They're almost constantly exhausted."

"How do you know all this?" asked Derrick.

Harry grinned and shrugged his shoulders. "I've stayed over at my best friend Ron's house. His dad works at the Ministry. Whenever I had a nightmare I would head downstairs to the kitchen or living room. Sometimes he would be there and we would talk. And I believe thats two questions from Derrick and one from Axis."

At first, the two vampires just stared at him, but soon a slow smile appeared on Derricks face and Axis started to giggle. "Alright. I agreed to it after all. Ask away."

"Okay. What was your assesment of Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape?" Harry asked, genuinly curious.

"Hmm. I didn't really knkow either of them very well. We met only at the occasional meeting of Riddle and his allies, and even then they only really interacted with him." Derrick looked off to the side as he racked his brain for any details he could remember about them. "I remember that Lucius had a pretty wry sense of humor. I also remember that he can't shut up when he's drunk. There was this party to celebrate our victory at an ambush and he had had too much to drink. I found out a lot about him the other night." He couldn't help but smile at the memory. The sound of someone clearing their throat brought him out of his nostalgia. He turned to see an impatient Harry motioning for him to continue. He chuckled, but took the hint. "He talked about how he didn't like his wife. An arranged marriage, you know. I believe he was proposing a law banning arranged marriages. Not a popular idea among the purebloods, but he was worried that his wife would try to arrange the marriges of whatever future children they might have. He may not have liked her, but he does like children. He said that he always wanted to have a family. He really was an okay guy.

"Severus pretty much came across as a sarcastic arsehole, but he didn't seem like a bad guy. He was loyal to Riddle. In fact, the only time he wasn't sarcastic was when he was around Riddle. He cared about his friends, too. As scathing as I'm sure he was about it later, he was the one who pulled Lucius away from his embarassing conversation with me. Just in time too, I'm fairly certain he was getting ready to make a pass at me." at this, Harry started violently choking on his Butterbeer. Derrick gave a deep, sonerous laugh and Harry blushed at his reaction.

The smile, and blush, slowly faded from Harry's face. "On a more serious note, Riddle sounds like he was a good guy with a good plan. So, what changed?"

Derricks face turned solemn. "That celebration where Lucius embarassed himself, was for a victory against a group of Aurors that had ambushed us as we were returning from a congerence with a possible ally. We hadn't thought anything of the curse that a dying Auror had thrown at Riddle. We had made it back to his headquarters without any apparent effect we figured that it had failed. I remember he had a headache and left the party earlier because of it. he just took a pain potion and went to bed. He seemed better the next day. But from then on out he started to change. First his atitude and then his appearance. Before anyone knew it, we were slaves to a snake-faced dark lord who used us as tools to torture his prisoners. More often than naught, they were random innocents who had gotten caught in the crossfire of war they didn't understand. Some of the Deatheaters went insane, some wanted to leave, but were too afraid to attempt it. Some attempted it and were killed. Most became power hungry to survive, striving to excel at every little task to please him and gain his favor to avoid torture. Lucius stopped cracking jokes and started drinking more, but after the first two times he didn't say anything to Voldemort about the way things had changed. Severus just stopped talking. He gave only yes and no answers. Those two had always been more like friends to Riddle than mere advisors. I always thought that that was the only reason either of them stayed."

Harry nodded his understanding and sipped his Butterbeer. All of a sudden, it didn't seem to warm him up the way it used to.

Axis shifted in his seat. He hated awkward and sad conversations. "So!" he practically shouted in his desperation. "What was your question for me?"

A sly grin slid onto Harry's face. "This is completely off topic, but its been bugging me. Why are your eyes red?"

Axis actually blushed and everyone at the table started to snicker. "My original hair color was strawberry-blonde. I had decided that I wanted more 'strawberry' and used a potion. I was too lazy to go out and buy one so I chose to make it myself. However, I didn't have all the ingredients so I substituted a few ingredients. Apparently I substituted too many because when I drank it, this happened."  
By the end of the story Koga was hunched over the table with his face burried in his arms. "We called him 'little red' for weeks. He hasn't gone near a cauldron since."

"Oh yeah? Well you've been embarrassed ten times worse!" called Axis in a manner reminiscent of a five year old.

"When?"

"The 'shampoo' incident." Axis said with a snug look on his face.

"Don't you dare!" said a paniced looking Koga.

Harry couldn't resist. He conspiratorily leaned towards the red-eyed vampire. "Tell me!" he faux whispered.

"Me and Koga were walking around muggle London on an errand. We passed one of those electronics shops with all those telly's on display in the window. As we were passing they played a commercial for a muggle product called Nair. I managed to convince him that it would be the same as going to a barber. You see, Koga's hair grows freakishly fast and he gets tired of making the trip to get it cut. So when I suggested that he put some Nair in his shampoo to prevent the trip, he eagerly agreed. You should have seen it. He was completely bald!" By this time everyone was laughing, except Koga - who was being held back from tackling Axis by Roarke - and Axis himself who had started walking around the room, calling out in a falsetto voice, "My hair! My thick, luscious locks!"

Tom had come and taken their dirty dishes before they had settled down enough to continue. "I only have one more question and then you can ask as many as you want." Harry said.

"And what question would that be?" Derrick asked.

Harry started to answer when it occured to him what Derrick had done. He gave him a smile and a nod before turning a hard stare on the table. "When he killed my parents, by that time, was there anything left of the man you had known?"

Through the deafening silence, Derrick looked our young hero straight in the eye and answered, "No. If there had been he wouldn't have been able to do it." he sighed and rested his chin on his fist. "I've gone over it again and again in my mind. Everything traces back to that night, and the only thing out of the ordinary then was the curse that hit him. Everything changed after that."

"Thank you. You've been completely honest with me. I happen to know first hand what a rare quality that is."

"Not at all. Now I have another question for you. We both know that you can't stay here long without someone or other discovering you. Why don't you return with us to my manor? I have several texts and old notebooks that document the facts of the first war. I'm sure you'd find them helpful."

"Umm...wow. I-I would like that very much!" for the first time since their interesting meeting earlier that day, Derrick - and the rest of the group - were able to see a real, 100% genuine smile on Harry's face. The result was dazzling. "I'm going to go take care of our bill and pack my things." he said as he rose from his seat.

"We'll meet you out back in... say ten minutes?" the young wizard nodded and left. As soon as the door had closed, Derrick turned to the others. "I don't think there's much that needs to be said."

"Agreed." gruffed Kurt. "The boy obviously could use some help."

"I'm not sure he's had the time to actually be a 'boy'. His actions are well thought out and he was very thorough in his questions." Koga stated. "When he did mention them, he didn't sound too fond of his aunts family."

"I think the fact that he ran away speaks to that. I'd hate to think that there were other reasons that he would want to run away other than to get out from under Dumbledores thumb." Axis muttered.

"The kid has a pretty good idea of what he's doing. He has a lot of potential. I whole heartedly agree with you." Roarke said.

"Very well then. We will all play our parts in informing the rest of the coven of the boys protected status. Koga, why don't you flu ahead and prepare a room for him. We'll wait and portkey in with Harry." Derrick sighed as Koga left. "Looks like we're in the middle of another war."

IMPORTANT! = I need all my readers input on this! What would you guys like Harry's magical inheritance to be? I'm open to suggestions, but here's my main ideas right now (be warned, they're not very original):

1) Some sort of elf - elemental, dark, light,etc.

2) cat (neko)/fox(kitsune)/wolf(ookami) person/demon/half demon

3) type of fairy

4) other - please specify.

A/N:) I know its not a very long list, but I've been working so hard the pst few days trying to get this chapter finished that I've pretty much burned out my brain. So ideas would be much appreciated. If I don't get at least 7 votes for one idea (whether or not its listed above. could just be an idea thats noted in different reviews.) then I won't continue until I do. Sry, but my brain needs a break. So, I will let you know when i have my own comp again, but until then I hope you enjoy the story. 


	7. Changes

-  
Chapter 7: Changes...  
-

A/N :) Here it is! Finally! Thank you for not killing me, and please refrain from doing so if you don't like Harry's inheritance. What can I say; I got a whopping three votes for it as opposed to one for each of the other two. So, that s what I went with. Can't blame you, after how long I made you guys wait for, well, every chapter, but still... Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 7: Changes..._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - A Week Later -

Harry sat in the Library of the massive manor that was the home of about half of the Shadows coven, the rest preferring to live in various, more private homes. It had been a little odd at first, living with so many vampires. Knowing how strong they were and how easily they could take him out, asleep or awake. But as he had gotten to know most of them, he had become more comfortable. One in particular, Harper, had made it his personal goal to befriend Harry. He was hyper and fairly noisy and insisted on drinking 'Sparky Cola' despite being a vampire, but he was friendly and had introduced Harry to practically everyone at the manor upon first arriving.

As he flipped a page in one of the many journals he had found to be useful here (apparently it was tradition for vampire covens to have every member keep a journal to be read by new members to gain a more in depth view of important points in history, so that they could form their own conclusions without the influence of any propaganda), Harry remembered the surprise he had felt when he had been told that Harper had been a muggle who had known almost nothing of the magical world until he had been turned by his mate, Tyr.

Unlike his better, brighter half, Tyr was stand-offish and had spent most of their first meeting glaring at Harry. It wasn't until later that he had learned that it had been because he had been jealous of all the time Harry had spent with Harper. Harper had admitted this to him in private along with the fact that he thought Tyr was unbelievably cute when he was like that. And the little tidbit that he was very possessive and 'even more ferocious in bed, and I mean teeth bearing in an actual fucking growl that sends shivers down my spine and makes me harder than-' at which point a blushing Harry had slapped his hands over his ears and walked away. This had, of course, led to him admitting that he was 100% virgin and just because he liked to look smoking hot, didn't mean that he had gone any further than a few awkward kisses.

He couldn't help but chuckle to himself. It had been anything but funny at the time, but what could he say? Distance made the heart grow fonder... He shook himself out of his thoughts when he realized he had read the same paragraph three times.

"Ugh... Many parts of the personality that he showed at school were fake. Nothing but part of a script, but one thing at least was real: he hated research. He would much rather leave this to Hermione, to sit in front of books for - Three Hours! Jeez. His stomach growling reminded him that it was past time for dinner. 'That s odd,' he thought, 'Usually, someone would have come down to get me if I didn't show in the kitchen before 7...'

He exited the library with a shrug and made his way down the hall, consequently passing Derricks study and noticing the slightly raised voices of the original five vampires he had met, as well as some of his new friends. He hesitated to knock, but remembering Derrick telling him that everything save the private bedchambers were open to him, he went ahead.

"Yes?" He heard Derricks' reply through the polished oak door.

"Um... It's me. Can I come in?"

He could hear someone make a comment, sounded like Telemachus, before being silenced with a sharp retort. "Of course, Harry."

"Sorry to interrupt," he said as he made his way inside and noticed that all eyes were on him. "I just, uh, heard some voices as I passed. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, kid. Everything's fine. Just a minor - oomph!" Harry winced in sympathy as Kurt gave Telemachus a quick - but no doubt powerful - elbow to the gut. "What?!" he growled at the shorter man. "The last thing he needs is something more to worry about! We'll decline and it will all blow over, no big deal!"

"That s not how this will work and you know it! This is a big deal and he deserves to know."

"What's going on guys?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"Come in and shut the door." Derrick said. He waited for Harry to comply before he continued. "I received an owl earlier today. It appears to be from Riddle." He held up a piece of parchment, "He's... He's requesting and audience."

"...He's going to ask you to join him again isn't he?"

"It's very likely."

"What are you going to say?" Harry would like to think that they were going to decline, but he knew that that could be extremely dangerous. Derrick had to protect his coven. If he refused and Riddle won the war, then he could be forfeiting all their lives. Heck, even if the Light won, they would continue to suffer the prejudice of the Ministry. He kept his eyes locked on Derrick s and tried not to think about what it would mean if they accepted.

Derrick leaned back in his chair, his hands rubbing the tense muscles of his neck. "I don't really know." His eyes shifted to glance at Orin. That familiar far-off look slid onto his face, as it always did when he was remembering something. "Back then... after things took a turn for the worst, he never asked for anything. If he wanted it, he took it. If he wanted an audience with you, he showed up at your house. There was no request. But..."

"But the Riddle we knew was a stickler for etiquette." Kurt finished for him. Derrick nodded thoughtfully. "You can't possibly think that he's miraculously recovered. We tried everything. Nothing worked. Riddle is dead, it's Voldemort that lives."

"I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the possibility." Koga stated from where he was leaning against the Fireplace. "It's possible. We have no way of knowing how that could affect the spell. Hell, we never even found out what spell they used to begin with!"

"Even if any of it did counteract the spell, the experience itself would be enough to drive any man insane, let alone the memories of what he did!" Kurt replied.

"We don't know what going through something like that would do to someone. There isn't exactly precedent for any of this. And we can't be sure that he would actually remember anything."

"Come off it Koga! There's no way -"

Harry, who had been following the conversation with avid interest, jerked his head up to look at the strategist. "That's it!" Everyone turned to look at him in surprise, but he didn't bother explaining. Instead, he turned and ran from the room. There were a few seconds of confused silence before the group moved to follow him.

They found him in the library once again, shifting through one of the many piles of journals on one of 7 tables. Roarke huffed out a breath, "Harry, one of the first things we did when we noticed the change was interview everyone that was present at the ambush. Vampire and wizard. No one heard what curse he used. You're not going to find any clues in their journals."

Harry just shook his head and continued searching. After a few more minutes he held up a book so old that even the preservation charms that had been placed on all the books in the library hadn't been able to prevent the edges of it from browning and becoming slightly tattered. "This isn't from the ambush." He finally said, as he carefully flipped through the pages.

"Then when is it from. It looks ancient!"

"It's from the days when the wizarding councils ruled. I wanted to learn more about it so I got some of the oldest books out."

"I still don t understand how this is supposed to help." Grumbled Roarke.

A few moments more and Harry placed the open book on an empty table and slid it towards the massive man. He and the others leaned over it to read the neat script.

'3rd Day of the twelfth month of 1253

The council met today to discuss possible solutions for our current predicament. While it is much less pressing than having a live dragoness nesting on our meeting grounds, it is one that we all feel deserves our time. It was thanks to a rather ingenious potion that we were able to remove her and her eggs from the premises without harm to either to her or ourselves. However, when we felt the need to reward the individual responsible for it, we found that there were several witches and wizards eager to be acknowledged as the potions creator. Without any intent to impugn the honor of such reputable citizens, it occurred to us that the various acclaimants could not all have had a hand in its birth. However, having no record to suggest the true creator we had to hire several people of a notable reputation to search out this remarkable individual. Having found him - One Quintinius Fox, a man of an advanced age that had not heard of our use of his sleeping draught - we turn now to the issue of assuring that credit is given where credit is due.

At the end of the meeting we had made our decision, and so it is that the Archives for magical creations and discoveries is founded along with the Councils newest mandate stating that all magical beings must report their discoveries and creations to a Council member in order to have it placed on record. These records will be handed to the Archive Master. In the spirit of fairness and security, the duty will be passed off to a different Councilman every 13 months. The only record of the current Archive Master being kept at our Chief Meeting grounds.

With all the chief duties and issues of the day over and done, we began discussing the upcoming celebration for the Councils 2847th year of bringing peace and security to the magical peoples of the world. We can say with great pride that any magical beings that have followed the council s mandates have been free of any harm from muggle administrations.'

"This can help us a lot. You guys told me that the Ministry took over all of the duties of the Council - for Britain at least - But what if the archive itself is still out there? Known only by the descendants of the last archive master?"

"It's a nice idea, kid, but even if the archive did survive, the Council had wizards and magical beings from all over the world. Today, that's hundreds of thousands of people spread out from here to kingdom come. There s no record of the wizards that were on the last council." Telemachus piped in again. Harry liked the guy, really he did, but there were times when he made him so frustrated. Like how he would revert to calling him kid when he thought Harry had done something cute or childish.

"But there IS a record of the last Archive Master."

"Yeah, at the Councils Chief Meeting Grounds. Hate to break it too you, but no one knows where that is."

"I have a good idea about where it might be."

"And how might that be?" asked Derrick, taking a step towards the arguing men.

"I actually got the clue from something I learned in history class at a muggle school. It's a fairly famous place, since no one has been able to say for sure what it was used for and because it has been around for so long."

"...And where is that?" Derrick asked with a frustrated sigh. He wasn't a particularly patient person and Harry knew it. The brat was teasing him!

"Stone Hinge." He looked at each person in the group, pleased to see that Koga was nodding his head, staring intensely at the journal.

"It makes sense Derrick. It says in that they were going to be celebrating the anniversary of the council and the time matches up with when Stone hinge was believed to have been finished." The man said.

"That s some impressive reasoning, Harry." Piped up Axis. Over the last week Harry had been surprised to learn that, contrary to his first impression, Axis wasn't a particularly talkative person unless he was trying to get someone to relax. He often found himself comparing Axis to a centaur because even when he did speak, he could give an hour long lecture without actually SAYING anything. He would have done well in politics.

"Thank you, but it still leaves a lot of work. If the bloodline has died out we're out of luck. And even if it hasn't there could still be hundreds of people that are his descendants. We don't know how long Voldemort is willing to wait."

Derrick nodded. "Yes, and no matter how it sounded in the letter, we must believe that he's still Voldemort. We can't take the risk of assuming that Riddle's back before we know for sure that the curse has been broken. I ll leave Koga in charge of organizing a group to handle the trip to Stone Hinge and the subsequent search. Roarke, Axis, And Telemachus will be handling the research for the group. And all descendants need to be checked out, not just the direct ones. I will Owl Voldemort and try to stall but I don't think I ll be able to hold him off for more than a month, so Koga, any and all members of the coven will be open to you. Just let me know who you need." He chewed on his bottom lip for a moment before giving another quick nod to dismiss everyone.

He reached out to grab Harry's' arm as the wizard tried to follow Koga and the others out. "And where do you think you're going?"

"Um... to help Koga?" He looked Derrick in the eye for a moment before he jerked his arm out of the vampires grasp. He had that guarded determined look in his eye. Derrick recognized it easily enough as the one he had worn when he was asking all those questions on the first day they met. It took him aback a little because he couldn't figure out what he had done wrong. "I'm not a kid Derrick. I discovered this and I want to be part of it. I'm not going to sit on the sidelines while the grown-ups handle everything."

"No! Harry that's not why I'm stopping you."

"Then why?"

With a sigh he explained. "I wasn't lying when I said we need all the help we can get. But you have only a week or so before you come-of-age and we have no way of knowing whether or not you have creature blood that will mature. After I send that owl I'm going to need your help in making a few batches of vitamin supplement and energy restoration potions. If you do have any creature blood, then the changes will take a lot out of you. It's important to have them ready, just in case. After your birthday your free to do what you want, but as of now, I'd really rather you not die from dehydration and malnutrition."

"Oh." And it was a good thing Harry was a boy, because if he hadn't been, the light flush the spread from one cheek to the other would have been too much to resist. Thankfully for both of them, Derrick was a strict ladies man. Gods help whoever got their hands on that ass though. Harry had been a bit wild since he had gotten comfortable at the manor. He had massive amounts of caffeine (Harpers influence no doubt), he'd spent the first few days snacking at odd hours instead of actually eating meals, The very first day he had charmed every item in the room he had been given to change to a random color every fifteen minutes (Telemachus had gone in to try to convince him to eat dinner with them, only to come running out from a room that was decorated in the most hideous shades of yellow brown and pink), had spelled all the faucets to spout nothing but a drink called 'Fruit Punch' for 24 hours, and stayed up for 2 days straight before crashing in the 1st floor lounge. He remembered seeing Tyr carry him up to his room after that.

Not that Derrick and the others didn't understand. From what little they d been able to get from him about his life, he hadn't had much freedom. It was normal for him to want to try out different things. While he had laughed about Koga coming out from taking a shower with the red liquid pouring off him, he hadn't pulled any other pranks, He also hadn't tried to do the whole Hyper and obsessive thing again, and he had finally settled his room into a mix of emerald green, gold, and black. Even so, every now and then he would catch him staring off into space, looking in some direction or other without actually seeing anything. Harry knew what he wanted to do about the war, there was no doubt there, but it was what he wanted to do with himself that was bothering him.

"I'm going to send that owl. You know where the potions lab is?"

"Yeah. I'll get something from the kitchens and then head down to set everything up." They left the library and parted ways in silence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ July, 30th 11:45 P.M.

"Alright, Koga's team has managed to cut the list down to 8 people and Roarke's group is getting their addresses. So will you please take the potion now?" Harper asked, moving from the doorway to take a seat on the bed.

Harry paced back and forth in front of him. "What about Derrick? Any word yet from Voldy?"

"For the last time, NO!" Harper sighed. "C'mon Harry, it's really important that you're out when that clock hits 12."

Harry chewed on his lip and glanced at the clock. Logically, he knew what would happen. Kurt had tutored him on creature inheritances every night since they had met. He had learned a lot, the guy was a great teacher, but it was still scary.

He sighed, gave his head a quick shake, and started pacing again. He should be able to do this! He had faced so many scary things before: the rooms that guarded the sorcerer's stone, the troll on Halloween, the Chamber of Secrets! Dementors and werewolves and murderers! 'But' he thought, 'even when I went into those situations, I knew what I needed to know: I was either going to live or die. Here, though . I might change into something else entirely and there is no clue as to what it might be. Or who I'll be afterwards.'

Harper flopped back onto the bed. He glanced up when he heard the door open to see Tyr step in. Harpers lover raised a questioning eyebrow, tilting his head in Harry s direction. Harper could only shake his head and give a half-hearted shrug. They both glanced at the clock. 11:50. Not good. Tyr opened the door wider and motioned to Harper to leave. As he passed him, Harper whispered "Better go easy on him. If he gets too upset, the potion won't work anyway and I'll kick your ass."

With his mate out of the room he approached the pacing wizard and cleared his throat. Harry's head jerked up. "Where's Harper?" he asked in confusion.

"I thought it best if I talked to you alone."

"...Why? Talk about what?" Harry asked hesitantly. He was fairly certain that this man didn't like him. His magic had abandon him this morning. Kurt had said that would happen if he was going to go through a change; saving energy to use when it happened. If Tyr tried something, he wouldn't be able to defend himself very well. He was only just starting his hand-to-hand lessons with Mobius.

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Harry wanted to slap himself. Tyr may seem unapproachable, but if Harper was with him then he couldn't be a bad guy. And Derrick had promised him he would be safe here. They had never given him any reason to doubt them. Dammit! He was just so tense!

"You have nothing to fear from me, boy. Or the change."

"Easy for you to say! Everything I thought I was is about to change! Again! As if it wasn't bad enough when I found out that I was a wizard!"

"That's your problem. You keep thinking of this as a bad thing, but it doesn't have to be. Never compare the present to the past. They are two completely different things. The past is there to teach us and prevent us from making the same mistakes. The present is here to give us a second chance." Tyr looked at him for a moment before motioning towards the bed. He picked up the potion bottle and held it out to him. "I know this has to be uncomfortable for you. But think of it as a pre-emptive war effort slash reward."

Harry shot him a look. "Uhuh, and hows that work?"

"Almost everyone who receives a creature inheritance, also gets a boost in their magic as well. That's not all though. Over half of the Magical species in existence have pre-determined mates and are led to them by instinct."

Harry huffed at him. "It's not certain that I'll receive either of those, and even if I did, I can't see myself being happy over not being able to choose the person that I'll spend the rest of my life with!"

Tyr barely suppressed an irritated snarl. The boy was just stressed, he had to remember that. "No you idiot, You should be happy about the fact that you wont have to spend years searching and wondering if you ll ever find the one for you. Instead, your instincts will lead you right to them. Not someone that's forced on you, but some one who's perfect for you."

"... Oh, I didn't ... I didn't think about it like that." Harry replied. He looked a little stunned, but a lot calmer. That was good. "But its still not sure that I'll get either of those." He reapeated, but this time it sounded sad rather than argumentative.

The vampire smirked. "Please, boy. Since when have you ever done something half-way? Either you'll have both or neither. I'll make you a deal. If you have both, then I take over your training. If you have neither, then I'll help you research the first war." He held out the potion and was pleased when Harry took it and immediately drained the contents. He didn't even have enough time to make a face at the horrible taste before he was out.

Tyr placed the vile on the nightstand and rearranged him on the bed. He paused for a moment before pushing the covers down and just covering him up with a sheet. A quiet knock on the door dragged his attention away from the young mans sleeping form. He turned to see Harper poking his head in. "He finally out?" Tyr nodded. "Whew, not a moment too soon. Only 3 minutes left. Want to wait out here with the rest of us?"

"Yes. But tell me Seamus, what is the point in knocking when you aren't going to wait for an answer before barging in?"

"Why, I m surprised you'd even ask, Uberstud. The answer is obviously because its polite."

Tyr grunted in response. He grabbed a spot in an overly fluffy yellow and neon green armchair decorated with seagulls and sakura flowers. There was no doubt that Axis had conjured it as per Harpers specifications. He was the only one who would do anything concerning magic for Harper ever since the Spring cleaning incident. He chuckled as he remembered the look on Derricks face. And Roarke! Who knew it was possible for the big guy to blush.

"Whats so funny?" His mate asked as he made himself comfortable on his lap.

"The past." That got him a raised eyebrow, but no further comments.

As the silence of the magically expanded corridor wrapped around them and the others that had come to await the inheritance, he wished that Harper had said something back. Their banter had always been a source of amusement and distraction for him. He supposed that, as close as Harper had gotten to Harry, he wasn't feeling up to much. Not that Tyr could blame him. At first, the wizard had been an annoyance, taking up more of his mates precious time. However, as the days and hours passed, he had grown quite fond of him. Brave and precocious and stubborn as hell. All traits that reminded him of his beloved, though he was calmer for the most part, and not as handy with muggle technology. He was quite impressively devious and would make a good leader, though with his attitude towards such things he could not see him staying in any position of power for long. He would toss it all to the winds afore too long. Not the smartest thing, but it made him all the more intriguing.

Harper resisted the overwhelming urge to tap his foot. He glanced down at his watch. 11:58:28 (hr/min/sec). 'Great. 10 minutes had seemed like no time at all when he was trying to get Harry to drink the potion, but now 3 seemed liked forever no sorry, 1 minute. Which reminds him, how did Tyr get him to drink the potion? He d tried for an hour and had zilch to show for it! He better not have threatened him. No, Tyr knew better than that. Another quick glance at his watch. 11:58:47. How long is it going to take?! Jeez. Okay, Zelazney, deep breathes. In, out, in, out. Ok, your doing good. Now just OH MY GOD, WHAT TIME IS IT?! NO! No, no, no. Do. Not. Look. At. Your. Watch. Just .look around instead. Yeah that s it. Harry might want to know who was here when he wakes up. Take a good look around. Lets see everyone that originally brought him to the manor, of course. Koga was particularly attached to him. Kurt too. He had wandered into the lounge many times in the past couple weeks only to find those three debating over this strategy or that move, or just bitching about Fudges latest moronic act.

There was also Telemachus with his mate, Beka. Hakkai was there with his usual odd-but-endearing fashion sense. He was the librarian and so had gotten to know Harry during the boys research.

There were a few others there as well. People that had starting showing up ever since Derrick had called everyone home after Voldemorts letter. Their leader hadn't wanted to leave anyone out in the open in case the dark lord reacted badly to being denied a speedy audience. Not everyone had made it back yet, there were still lots on the way, but they checked in regularly to let him know that they were still alright. Of course, Derrick himself was there. As young as he looked, he was fairly old, even for vampires, and he had taken to treating Harry as his own. He looked calm and collected on the outside, but Harper bet he was freaking out more than even he was.

And why shouldn't he? They could read book after book on the subject, but the truth was that none of them had gone through this. The wizards among them had only been able to be turned because they had no creature blood to interfere in the process. There were only a handful of wizards in the Shadows that hadn't been turned, but none of them had a creature inheritance. Everyone else was either a former muggle or had been born a vampire. They were all here, not just as support, but to reassure themselves after it happened that Harry was alright.'

"Here we go." Someone muttered. He couldn't really tell who, but he did glance at his watch again. 11:59:53. He had the sudden urge to vomit. Onto his watch. Partially out of nervousness and partially in the insane hope that it would make it stop working and therefore stop time. 11:59:57. What if something went wrong? Everything they checked had said that the potion was not only safe for this, but recommended. What if they had messed it up though? What if there was a bad reaction with it and he just stopped breathing instead? What if it wore off too early and he woke up in agony? 11:59:59. Oh god. Whatever happened, it was too late now.

"For whatever its worth, happy birthday Harry." Harper said aloud as his watch finally hit 12:00.

A/N:)okay. I finally took a look at the chappy after getting a few complaints about there not being " to let you know when people were talking. I honestly don't know what happened. My back up of the chapter has " and ' to represent speech and thought but fro some reason the Document manager decided to delete most of them on the upload, apparently. So I repost it in the hopes that it will be easier to read. WDA


	8. Planning And A Lack Of Important

A/N:) Here it is! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Neither do I have any form of permission from the owner to market or gain any kind of profit from it. This is a non-profit piece and therefore does not require legal action. Please.

Chapter 8: Planning ... And A Lack Of Important Things

At first nothing happened. Then, slowly, they could see lights flashing through the edges of the bedroom door. Not a constant light, or a growing glow, but flashes. Like sparks randomly jumping off the end of a lighter. They started slow at first. Then they grew in intensity and frequency. Every now and then, a pop or crack or long hiss could be heard from the room beyond.

Everyone held their breathe. It seemed to go on forever, but they all felt that any move could endanger their friend. Finally, it died down, stopping in half the time that it had taken it to build up. Harper looked at his watch again. 12:09:13. The longest 9 minutes of his life.

No one made a move at first, but Derrick eventually rose and moved toward the door. He flung it open and marched in, quickly turning towards the bed. He gave a surprised gasp and almost everyone in the corridor tried to squeeze their way into the room at once. Harper, Koga and Tyr managed to make their way to the front of the group.

"Holy shit…"

Harry was trying to sleep. The key word here is 'Trying'. The sun had to have a grudge against him though, because it seemed to be focusing all its light onto his face. It really wasn't helping his headache. He turned over and tried to pull the covers over his face. Only… there weren't any covers, just the sheet. He groaned. What in the world had they done last night that he'd been too out of it to cover up properly?

'I swear,' he thought, 'If Telemachus spiked my drink again, I'm going to curse his dick off.' What had he had to drink last night, anyway? Or for dinner? He didn't think he'd had anything other than…..

He bolted upright as a picture of Tyr holding out a potion vial flashed through his thoughts – only to fall back as a wave of dizziness struck him.

"Take it easy Harry, Your alright. Drink this." Derrick sounded calm enough, so Harry figured everything had turned out okay. He felt an arm sliding under his back and slowly propping him up, then the tip of a vial was pressed against his lips and he opened his mouth drinking the viscous and disgusting potion. Two more potions later and he was feeling much better. He was able to sit up on his own and had managed to keep his eyes open, though only after Derrick had closed the curtains.

As he was sitting up, Harry felt his hair shifting against his back and realized that his hair had grown considerably. Reaching up, he pulled a bunch of it over his shoulder to study. It was down to about his waist now, and had a silky texture. It gleamed in the low light in the bedroom and moved like a river over well-worn rocks. Harry Idly thought to himself that he had gotten it grown out and dyed for nothing.

"Okay there?" asked Derrick from his place in a conjured chair by the bed.

"Yeah, it's just strange to have my hair this long." Harry replied, grimacing at the memory of aunt Petunias obsession with keeping his hair short. "I don't feel any different really. Do I look different? Other than the hair of course."

Derrick smirked and held out a mirror. Harry took it, suspicious of the look on his friends face. In his short time here he had learned that a smirk on any vampires face was more than enough for a sane person to lay low for a few hours. Finding himself suddenly nervous, he took a deep, steadying breath and raised the mirror.

What he saw amazed him. It was still him, but different. Other than his hair being longer, his complextion was a shade or two darker - barely noticeable, but there - the dark circles that had been present under his eyes for years were completely gone and even his scar had darkened so that it was less noticeable. It also looked like it had shrunk a little, something he hadn't dared hope for. His eyes seemed a bit larger, the pointed ends on either side of his face having moved just a half-centimeter upward. It made his reflection look exotic.

Harry stared at this new version of his self, mentally cataloguing the changes. Like how his eyes had become a lighter shade of green and seemed to glow. Or how his lips (while still the same pale pink) were fuller. Even his fingers seemed elegant from where they were wrapped around the handle of the mirror.

Something occured to him and he tossed the mirror towards the end of the bed before throwing the covers off himself. Turning to face the nearest post on his canopy bed he was frustrated to find that he was looking at the same section of wood that he always did. 'Damn' he thought, trying to ignore Derricks chuckles when the older man realized what he had been doing.

"So, what am I?" he asked the still grinning man after a few moments.

"Ironicly, your a sub-species of vampire." Derrick said as he stood and walked towards Harry.

"Really? I didn't know there were sub-species for magical creatures."

"Oh theres alot of them actually. Though most of them are just different types of Fae. You happen to be an incubus."

"... as in 'male version of a succubus'?" Harry flushed and could feel a sense of dismay and panic start to overcome him. 'Of course this would happen to me. I couldn't have family that loved me, its just the icing on the cake that I can't have normal realationships. Thats all incubi are, isn't it? Just sex-crazed demons.'

"Hey, calm down kid. Its not what you think." Harry felt warm arms wrap around him from behind and closed his eyes, taking slow deep breaths. "I'm sorry, Harry. I should have known that all you've heard about succubi and incubi is bad. You should know that, just like it is with what you've been told of vampires, you haven't exactly gotten the full story."

Harry, much calmer now, slowly nodded his head. "alright, so why don't you fill me in on what I missed?"

"I'd be happy to. Lets see, where to start? As a subspecies of vampires, they feed on the life force of humans. In muggle stories they do this by seducing someone and feeding on the resultant lust. However, Thats only partly true. The Lillim - what they are actually called - are just like anyone else until they come-of-age. There is no muggle or magical way to tell if someone is one. You either have to already know, or find out when everybody else does."

"You seem to know alot about this for someone who didn't know what I was going to turn into a few hours ago."

"Well, once the change was finished and we had identified what you are we made it a priority to learn as much as we could. ANd like I said, the Lillim are a subspecies of vampire so we actually have a fair amount of knowledge about them. There are books upon books in in the library on creatures similar to us. I'm surprised you hadn't come across them yet."

"I've been sort of focused, ya know."

Derrick nodded his head in understanding and continued. "What else can I tell you? Well, the change that happens when a Lillim matures is one of the most arduos in existance. In most magical inheritance cases, a persons appearance will change, or they will gain a new ability or two. In the case of incubi, your body is changing at the most basic level. It has to adapt itself to process your new dietary requirments. Now, your -"

"Speaking of dietary requirments!" Came Koga's voice from the now open door. A tray containing two potion vials and 16 bottles of a thick red liquid that looked suspiciously like the blood he had seen them drinking at meals. "I can't believe your just getting there Derrick. It should have been one of the first things you covered!"

"Lectures aren't really my thing. We looked up alot of information, its not like I took the extra time to write a speech about it."

"Yeah, but seriously? He'd have died of starvation before you got to it."

"Are either of you going to tell me what 'It' is?" Harry asked, trying to stem the upcoming argument.

"I will and while I do you need to take these." Koga handed the two potions to a grimacing Harry. "I don't know if our fearless leader has told you yet, but the stories about incubi seducing and feeding on random people aren't exactly true. They are empathic creatures and they do feed on the feelings of their mates. Lust just happens to be a particularly powerful emotion in the mating bonds of many magical creatures, So it is one that they will feed on often. As an incubus you will have empathic abilities that will develop slowly, so as not to overwhelm you. When they start to develop you will find that you can gleen some small amount of energy from the others' feelings, but it won't be nearly enough to sustain you. Only the emotions of your mate will be able to do that." He accepted the empty vials from Harry and started to pour a little bit from a small group of the jars into eight glasses, setting each glass in front of the bottle that the fluid in it had come from.

Eyeing the glasses warily, Harry couldn't help but ask, "And what will I eat until I find my mate?"

"Blood."

*Sigh* "I was afraid of that. Seriously though, I don't have to drink ALL that do I? Cause really, I'm not that hun.. er, Thirsty?"

"No, you don't have to drink all this. They are just for you to try and figure out which blood type you like best. You are expected to drink two jars of your favorite though. Your body IS still recovering from the change and you need all the energy you can get."

Harry soon discovered that he favored O-. He also discovered that he was a lot hungrier than he had thought and quickly drained both bottles. Yawning as he handed the last empty bottle back to Koga, Harry lay down and barely registered the covers being pulled up or the light kiss that was placed on the top of his head before sleep claimed him.

Derrick closed the door behind himself carefully not wanting to wake the sleeping boy inside. "I never thought I'd see you looking paternal." He didn't have to turn around to see Koga's smirk.

Giving a shrug he replied, "Harry's a good kid. He deserves to be pampered."

A shadow fell across his friends face and the light teasing in his voice vanished, "He deserves alot more than just pampering." *sigh* "Unfortunately, It may be awhile yet before things start to settle down for him. An Owl just arrived. Seems Voldemort is getting antsy. We can expect a 'representative' to arrive in a few days to set up an official meeting."

"When?"

"Thats the bad news. He doesn't specify."

"Fuck." Derrick rubbed his forehead, trying to waylay the dull throbbing that was trying to take root. "Okay, I'm running down to the kitchens to drop this stuff off and get myself something to eat. You gather Kurt, Roarke, Axis, and Telemachus in my office. We'll go over the details of the letter and see what we what to do."

"Just those four?"

"For now. There's no need to freak anybody out. Once we've made a decision, we'll inform the appropriate people. Until then no one speaks a word of this."

"Got it."

Koga immediately headed towards the main lounge where the others were most likely to be located, but Derrick found himself hesitating. He glanced at harry's door before shaking his head and heading towards the kitchens. The kid needed his rest and this would only worry him.

15 minutes later ~~~~

Derrick was sitting behind his desk when the others arrived. When they were all present and the door had been secured, he nodded at Koga to begin the meeting.

"Okay, we all knew this was coming. I had hoped that we could have had a little longer, but it's just not in the cards. We've gotten an owl from Voldemort. He's going to be sending a representative to 'arrange' a meeting. The big problem is that he doesn't give a specific date or time. It's pretty much safe to assume that he has figured out that we are trying to stall. That means the next move is ours."

"What does it say exactly? We may be able to pick up some clues from his wording." asked a bemused Axis.

Koga pulled the scroll from the sleeve of his Turquoise shirt and handed it to Axis, thinking not of its contents, but of the kind hearted boy that had bought the shirt for him merely because he had walked him home. The boy who - despite the caution he had shown when first they met - had so easily opened an already wounded heart to creatures that he had been tought to hate and fear. 'No matter what hell Voldemort will drop us into if he finds out - WHEN he finds out -, we have to protect Harry.' He was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of Axis's voice.

"Dearest Derrick,

I'm afraid that I must impose on you. I'm sure you have heard by now how busy I have been and though I know that being Master of a coven as old and strong as yours is no small task in itself, I have but a small window of opportunity in which I can meet with you. And so I must insist that we arrange a meeting immediatly. To this end, I have sent a representative to your manor. He is traveling by muggle means to appear less conspicuous and will be arriving in a few days. I hope that the outcome of this meeting will prove that I can still call you ally.

Humbly, T.R..." Axis's voice trailed off when his eyes landed on the initials at the bottom of the page. He, like all of them, remembered all too well the changes that had overcome their friend. When Things had really started to get bad, Tom had stopped calling them his friends. They had become his servants and he had expected them to treat him as their lord and master. He had also stopped signing his letters thus, opting instead to place a Dark Mark.

"You might have mentioned that, Koga." Derrick said.

"We were going to be discussing the letter anyway, I figured it was just as well that everyone find out together. Besides, we'd just be going over the same arguments as last time."

"Now hold on a minute," chimed in Roarke, "We all know good and well that Tom hasn't signed letters like that since before the curse. This could mean-"

"-That he's trying to lure us into a false sense of security." Koga said with exasperation coloring his voice. "Look I want to believe that he's really back just as much as you, but the fact remains that its just too dangerous to assume anything but the worst at this point!"

"Let me play devils advocate for a moment." This time it was Kurt who had spoken. "Lets say we DID believe that Riddle was back. If we're wrong, its not like we couldn't defend ourselves. As for being judged by the wizarding world, their opinion can't get much worse than it already is. Even the Muggles and humans in our ranks are well trained and have the rest of the coven to help protect them."

"The Shadows is a powerful and ancient coven, but let me ask you: Can we take on an army?" the confused faces of his friends prompted Koga to continue, "What happens when his Death Eater gets here and sees Harry? You know as well as I that he would have every follower and ally of his here and armed to the teeth with curses and potions before nightfall. And if that didn't work, he would have one of his followers leak the information to the ministry and Dumbledore. Every Wizard in Britian that knew so much as a binding spell would be at our gates. And when our defenses fell? Voldemort would swoop in and snatch Harry right from under that fool of a headmasters nose." Silence reigned in the room as the others heard the truth in his words.

"...Then what are we supposed to do? The scroll only says that he will be traveling by muggle means, not arriving. What if they still have one of those emergency portkeys from last time? All of the strategically placed Death Eaters had one, it is plausible that one could have been missed when they were supposed to be retrieved. Its not like any of us thought he would be coming back." Kurt replied. He felt ashamed that he had failed to consider the kids safety. Even worse that he had failed to consider it at such a time when he was particularly vulnerable. The Kids magic would need time to return to full strength, and even when it did he would have to use most of it to control his developing thrall. He was practically defenseless right now. "Or apparation? We still have people out there, if someone were to be caught... Well, Riddle has proved in the past that he knows enough about us to coax information from the unwilling. He could use one of them to find out how to get through our wards."

Derrick pulled out a quill and some parchment, writing as he spoke. "We'll need someone to check the records, see who was responsible for the portkey collections. I'll have to contact all the remaining members who have not arrived, make sure everyones alright. Also new portkeys will have to be made. I don't think we can wait any longer for them to get here by the regular means. And I wan't the Wards renewed TONIGHT, and they will need to be renewed once a month now instead of once a year."

"And we still need to decide how to deal with our uninvited guest. No matter How unlikely it seems, we can't rule out the possibility that he WILL arrive by muggle means. Even when he gets here, how will we keep Harry away from him?" Everyone nodded, understanding Axis'concern.

"C'mon guys! That's the easy part. We just tell the kid to stay in his room while the guy is here. No problem!"

"...You have really got to spend more time with him Telemachus. If you had, you would know that he's been locked up far to often in his life. And more than once he's been told that it was 'for his own good'. Besides this is as much Harry's home now as it is ours. I'm not going to hide him away like he's a dirty secret."

"Well, what about-"

"-and before you say it, no we are not going to spike his blood with a sleeping draught." Derrick continued, giving Telemachus a firm glare. "Not to mention I promised him that after his birthday he could help out with the search for the descendants of the last Archive Master and FOR THE LOVE OF THE GODS WILL YOU TWO JUST STOP EAVESDROPPING AND COME INSIDE?!"

"...uhm, we can't. The doors locked." A muffled voice answered.

"Oh, dear lord. Koga, if you would?" Everyone watched as Koga unlocked the door and in walked Harper and Tyr.

"Ummm...Sorry?"

"Well you've already know what's going on. You've been out there long enough. Got anything helpful?"

"Actually, yeah. Tyr promised Harry that if he did have an inheritance and it was something that had a destined mate, then he would take over his training. He should be alot better by tomorrow, right? Tyr always starts a beginner out with lessons on meditation and the history of various fighting styles, so if they start tomorrow it wont be a struggle for him to keep up like the more physical lessons would be right now. And after they're done with that ... well I've sort of been wanting to introduce Harry to the wanders of Manga!"

"NO!" Everyone jumped at Telemachus' Shout. "You can't let him! He is NOT allowed to teach the kid about that stuff! I don't care how dire the situation! One rabid manga fan is enough! More than that, its too much! Hell HALF of one would be TOO MUCH! I can't handle two. I just can't! I mean it would be alright if it were only things like Dazzle, Skip Beat, and Crimson Hero - but its not!"

"... Are you okay?" a stunned Roarke querried.

"NO! NO I AM NOT OKAY! HE left one of his fricking guy-on-guy books on the table in the lounge! It was open to a VERY explicit page!"

"...and?"

"And Beka was teasing me! She had bent over in those black leather pants of hers and got me hard! I happened to glance down at the table just as she was standing back up and she thought I got a boner because of the picture of a guy taking it up the ass! BECAUSE OF HIM I HAVEN'T GOTTEN LAID IN THREE WEEKS! NO MATTER WHAT I SAY, SHE WON'T BELIEVE ME! EVEN THE FACT THAT WE ARE DESTINED MATES AND THERE IS NO WAY I COULD BE ATTRACTED TO ANYONE ELSE HASN'T HELPED! I CAN'T STAND THE THOUGHT OF THOSE THINGS BEING LEFT ALL OVER THE PLACE!"

"...So, I believe we have our plan." Derrick started saying, resolutley ignoring the whimper from Telemachus' position hunched down by the fire place. "Koga, I'll need you to organize a group and get them up to speed on the Archive Master search. Its too important to just drop, even in current circumstances. Roarke, you'll be in charge of setting up a watch shift. If this guy arrives by muggle means we need to know immediately. Kurt will get our most experienced wizards and strengthen the wards. Don't for get to set up a rotating schedule to renew them monthly. On second thought its probably best if you have it renewed at odd intervals."

"You mean like renew it once after 29 days, then 23 days after that, and 30 after that?"

"Exactly, we can't let our enemy think that we are predictable. That particular trick will be used later. Axis, we need portkeys that haven't been linked to a destination yet. You are authorized to use any means necessary to get them out of the ministry, but do try to not kill anyone. Our position is precarious enough as it is. Telemachus will be helping me to contact our members en-route. The ones travelling alone will apparate back with us, and those in a group will lay low at a safe house until we can get a portkey to them. Everyone understand their jobs? Good. Then lets get to work!" He watched everyone file out before getting up to follow. He happened to glance in the direction of the fireplace and couldn't help but have a niggling feeling that he was forgeting something. Hearing Telemachus call out to him, he shrugged it off and and hurried out.

A/N:) You like? Its not up as soon as I had hoped it would be but at least its a decent sized chapter. Please Reveiw!


	9. New Information And Awkward Situations

WDA: The ideas for this one came in random spurts and each was fairly far between, so I apologize for the wiat but I'm afraid it just couldn't be avoided. ENJOY!

Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter or any character there in. I do not own the concepts or locations (Both real and fiction: ie, Gringotts, Hogwarts, England, Diagon Alley, etc.). Nor do I own any characters in this fan fiction that exist in other licensed, non-licensed, copyrighted, etc. works of any kind. They are the intellectual property of their creators and companies. I own only Derrick Novus and The Shadows coven (with the exclusion of any characters from afforementioned licensed, non-licensed, copyrighted, etc. works) - which, to my knowledge, has not been created or used prior to my creation and use of it. I make no money from this story.

Chapter 9: New Information And Awkward Situations

The Next few days were a bit of a blur for Harry. With his body still recovering from the change, he didn't have the energy he usually had. This didn't stop Tyr from making good on his promise though. Thankfully, all they'd done to begin with was meditation. At first, even that had worn him out and he had gone to bed early every night and woken up late. However, that had only lasted two days and now things were going better.

More than the training, the days passed so fast because the coven was keeping him busy. He could tell that something was going on, but no one was telling him what. He hadn't confronted anyone about it yet. He had come to trust them and knew they wouldn't do anything to hurt him. Not that he liked being lied to, but it wasn't the first time someone had lied to him and he was sure that it was far from the last. Best to save his righteous indignation for something more deserving.

He was currently making his way to his room to settle down for the night. It had been a long day and he was tired, but he couldn't help smiling all the way. His morning had started out with Tyr teaching him a few basic fighting stances. After their session was over, Harper had met him at the door and proceeded to tell him about the prank he wanted his help with. That had lead to them being chased around the manor until they had finally escaped Telemachus by making a mad dash for the library where the research group was having trouble locating the three final descendants of the last Archive Master. Harry had stayed to help, while Harper had snuck back to his and Tyr's quarters.

Harry chuckled as he thought of how Telemachus had come so close to catching them. The whole chase had reminded him of watching the other kids play games during recess in primary school. No one would ever let him play because they were afraid of Dudley and he couldn't help but wonder if the kids back then had felt the same as he had today. The mischevious thrill and pure joy that had raced through his veins as he turned this way and that throught the winding and seeminglly endless halls of the manor.

"Hey Harry." the casual greeting pulled him from his thoughts.

"Hey Morgan. Been busy?"

"Yeah, it'll be a miracle if I get to bed before one tonight. You?"

"I'm heading to bed myself. I'd stay up and help you guys a little longer if I could, but I think Koga would strangle me if I tried."

"And well he should. You may feel alright now but it should only be a day or two more before your thrall starts to develop. Thats gonna take a lot of magic to control, at least at first. And after that you still have to worry about your empathic abilities. You need all the rest you can get." The handsome, dark-skinned man pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

"I know but -" Harry paused as something occured to him. "I didn't tell you... I mean I know its no secret that I'm an incubus but ... did they hand out flyers or something? 'Living With An Incubus: What To Expect'?"

Morgan laughed, "No, nothing like that. You have to remember Harry that no matter how big a coven the Shadows is, most of us have had centuries of practice sending information down the grape-vine. It's an endless source of amusement for us."

"I'll have to keep that in mind." He waved good-bye and continued on towards his room. Harry's grinned returned when he thought about how normal such conversations had become. The day after his birthday, he had wondered through the main lobby on his way to the kitchens and found it crowded with people and luggage. He soon discovered that the last of the coven had arrived and was introduced to them at dinner. The manor that had seemed cold and mostly empty - even with the majority of the coven having arrived a while ago - was now crowded and warm. Of course, he didn't know everybody yet, but Derrick had assured him that he would have plenty of time to get to know everybody. Everyday this place felt more and more like home.

His room finally came into sight and he found himself yawning as he opened the door. He was glad to see that the fire was already going. Its warmth had permeated the room and was making him even drowsier than he already was.

He quickly undressed, tossing his robe into the hamper to be given a proper wash, (cleaning charms could only do so much after all) and settled into bed. He had learnt that he now didn't like to sleep in night clothes. He wasn't able to get comfortable if he had a robe on. What had once been an extra layer of warmth was now more like a snake wrapping itself tighter and tighter around him with every movement. He found the covers oftened seemed to heavy now and so often slept only with the sheet pulled up. Harry snuggled into the pillow and was asleep in seconds.

~~~~~~~~~~ Several Hours Later

An unconcious Harry didn't notice the green flare of the fire. Nor did he notice the tall figure that stepped out of the flames before they resumed their natural color.

The dark sillouhette shook the soot from its robes before scanning the room. His eyes caught on the person sleeping in the bed. If he hadn't been worried about getting caught before he meant to be he would have cursed. He had chosen this wing carefully. He knew that it was reserved for guests and hadn't expected anyone to be here, what with old acquintances popping up. 'Of course,' he thought, 'the one time it may have helped and my paranoia fails me.'

He started to move slowly towards the door, keeping an eye on the bed. Finally, he was only a few feet from his goal. A quick look at the still sleeping body on the bed and he closed his eyes. He would rely on a different sense to discover if there were any guards or passerby's in the hall. Inhaling through his nose, he was unprepared for the delicious aroma that seem to spread throughout his body.

His reaction was instantaneous and completely out of his control. He opened his eyes, the room around him came into sharp focus. It felt like someone else that walked towards the bed, sitting down on the edge and leaning over the sleeping boy. He was beautiful. Long, black hair and fine features. Skin a warm exotic color that seemed to glow in the firelight and - Oh Gods! - that scent! It was coming off the boy in waves.

He reached out a hand, touching the soft skin at the boys wrist before going up in a steady glide. His fingers moved past the elbow, hesitating when they reached the shoulder before continuing. A flick of his fingers moved the curtain of satin-sleek hair to reveal the gentle curve of the boys neck. His fangs had dropped almost before he knew it. However, the images produced by his imagination were not of draining the young body, but instead of marking it. Claiming it as his own.

'That's not right.' He thought, 'I haven't felt this way since... since I found my mate.' He remembered when he had first felt the bond with his destined mate. It was true that he had felt a little disappointed by the fact that he did not suddenly feel 'complete' like everyone was always telling him he would. But he had felt like he had found something very important and he had loved Tom more than his own life. 'And even when Tom changed, I stood by him. It was only when...' He winced in remembered pain as he thought of the agony he had felt when Tom had ripped his own soul to pieces in a desperate bid for imortality. 'Only when THAT happened did I turn to the so-called 'Light' for help.'

"Hmmm.." The sound caught his attention and he turned in time to catch the boys eyes fluttering open - revealing a somewhat familiar green - and his head turning to look at him. In mere seconds he was off the bed.

He was unable to hide his shock as he asked, "What are you doing here, Potter!?"

"whaa?" came the sleepy mumble from the bed. When Harry sat up the sheet pooled at his waist, showing off his naked torso and causing Severus to once again lose control.

Harry knew that he was being pinned to his bed, but he couldn't bring himself to be worried or afraid. The weight on top of him was comfortable and there was a nice scent filling his nose. It made his head kind of fuzzy and all he wanted to do was snuggle into the that warmth. Slowly he became aware of a vibration against his neck. 'Ah, that sound... Growling?' That confused him. Everything felt so nice, why would someone be growling? And finally, Harry potter came to his senses enough to realize that a strange man was PINNING him to his BED in a bedroom in a HEAVILY WARDED mansion full of VAMPIRES who all had super senses. The thought 'How the hell did he get in?' was quickly followed by 'How the hell do I get out of this?'

It was by sheer stubborness that Severus was able to prevent himself from marking the boy, but that was all he could manage. No matter how he tried he couldn't force his body to move away from Potter. Every instinct he had was screaming 'MINE!'. It wasn't until the body beneath his stiffened and that sweet scent was tainted with the bitterness of fear that he regained control of his motor functions. He propped himself up on his hands, leaving the rest of his body in contact with Harry's. The movement revealed that they were both highly aroused by the the others proximity.

"What, pray tell, are you -" Severus' question was cut off by the door slamming open and the arrival of several worried and armed vampires. Derrick was at the head of the group (of course) and had his wand levelled at Snape looking all to ready to use it.

"Get. Off. Him." Derricks tone was clipped and his eyes held deadly intent. Severus very slowly removed himself from the bed. "What did you think you were doing, sneaking into my manor in the middle of the night? Your master must have regained much of his former power if he got you through our wards without an instant alert."

"Um... excuse me, but I'd really rather you didn't kill my potion professor in front of me." Harry said from the bed. "And I WOULD like to know whats been going on."

Derrick continued to glare at Snape for a bit before sighing, "Alright. Tyr, Kirin, keep your wands ready. You'll be escorting us to my office. The rest of you can return to your duties." Everyone filed out, including Snape, Derrick and the assigned guards. Harry threw on a clean robe and went to join the others.

~~~~ Derricks' Office

"- And thats why we've been keeping you so busy. We didn't want to worry you when you already had so much to deal with." Derrick finished.

"...So it appears that he sent Professor Snape, huh? But how did he get passed the wards?"

"I'm not exactly sure, but I do have an idea. You used the floo right? During the last war, we had all but three of our floo connections cut off. Each of those three only connect to one place, Safe houses that, likewise, connect only to the manor. A directed 'Notice-Me-Not' charm must have been in the notes. As soon as the first one was opened it would have been activated, keeping the floo's out of sight and out of mind.. As for the wards, *sigh* There is no such thing as a perfect ward. It IS impossible for ours to not be tripped by foreign magic, but it ISN'T impossible for the alert to be ...delayed."

Harry nodded in understanding, "But there is one thing thats bugging me: Why did nobody see fit to inform me that my professor is a vampire? Honestly, I'm going to be in the guys class this year and nobody said anything?"

"Quite." Snape intoned with his usual sneer. "Although I'm not sure you have any right to say anything about, Potter, seeing as you have completely failed to inform ANYONE about your Incubus status."

"It's not like I purposefully kept it from anyone! I've just recently gotten to the point where I can be up and about for a significant length of time without getting exhausted, y'know!"

"Hmm, yes well, that aside, I believe there is another matter of importance I should inform you of: We're mates."

"...but Toms your mate." Derrick replied, looking a bit disturbed.

"Really now, Derrick, you know as well as I that multiple mates is possible. It isn't even that uncommon and as you and I both know, the fact that Harry and I are mates means that Harry and Tom are mates as well. Which actually may explain a lot of what has been happening the last few months." The Hogwarts professor suddenly found himself the object of both mens scrutiny. "Tom's been ... odd lately. It's almost like he's caught between 'Tom' and 'Voldemort'. Me and Lucius have done our best to keep him away from the others, but his inner circle aren't used to being locked out. We were the ones who sent the letters to you. We had hoped to do it in a manner that would peak your interest enough to agree. However, we didn't count on young Harry living here. I must say that I understand your reluctance."

"Right. Fuck." Derrick rubbed at the spot between his eyes where he could feel the slight increase in pressure the told of a migraine in the near future before continuing, "Kirin, please inform those involved in the situation to meet me in the library. I do believe Severus will be impressed with our efforts." he ignored the raised eyebrow that got him from the potions professor, leading the way to the kitchen so he could make sure Harry got something to eat before the meeting began.

When they entered the library they found not only the research team, but Roarke, Axis, Kurt, Telemachus, and Harper as well. Severus used his newely returned wand (it having been taken from him in Derricks office) to summon two chairs, sitting in one and motioning for Harry to take the other. Harry was hesitant, but decided that he would have to get used to being close to the man. As mates they would no doubt be spending a lot of time together.

Derrick hopped up onto the main desk before starting. "It appears that we were all both wrong and right concerning Tom's condition. Severus here has been kind enough to tell us that Toms' moods have been eratic. Sometimes, He acts as Voldemort. Others, he acts like Tom. I've brought him here to show him our efforts and so that he can tell all of us about a theory he has. Harry, since it was your idea why don't you explain to him what we have been trying to accomplish."

Harry hesitated, glancing at his professor/mate ('gods, THAT'S going to take some getting used to!' he thought) before saying, "When I first met Derrick and the others, I had alot of questions for them. None of the answers were very easy to deal with, but I eventually learned that Tom only became Voldemort after being hit by a Aurors Curse. No one could say what the curse was and I coudn't find any records of anything that was nearly powerful enough to change someones behavior so profoundly.

"I spent alot of time in the library reading up on the last war. But thats not all I read about. There's a very old journal in here that I had glimpsed through and had wanted to read all the way through, so I put it aside. When the first owl came, I listened to everyone's opinions and the arguments they had. Something Koga said made me think of an entry in the journal that I had found Interesting." Harry was gradually growing more excited as he continued. His eyes lit up with delight as he explained how he had shown the others the passage in the journal and told them about his Stone Henge theory. Severus carefully absorbed the boys behaviour and the intelligence his discovery showed. When he had first realized that Potter was his other mate, he had been disappointed and a little angry. Now though, It had become obvious that there were many things he didn't know about Harry. Though he was loather to admit it, perhaps he had let his history with the boys father affect his behavior. He looked forward to getting to know the real Harry Potter. " - and we recently manage to eliminate all but three of the descendants. We've had trouble tracking the last three down though."

"That's rather ingenious. I'm quite impressed. If my theory is correct though you wont need to find the last descendants."

"How so?" asked an interested Kurt.

"You all know that Tom is my mate. What none of us knew until an hour ago was that Harry is also my mate, meaning he is also Tom's. It wasn't until Harry's blood was used to revive Voldemorts body that His behavior started to change. At first it was as gradual as the original curse had been. Eventually, however, me and Lucius noticed the change. We had hoped it would continue in such a manner until he returned to his old self, but it seems that he's hit somewhat of a wall. We had contacted you because we thought you might be able to lend us the use of your resources, though now it seems possible that the only thing that was missing was my own blood. If it was indeed Harry's - one of his mates' - blood that started to reverse the curse then it is entirely possible that the addition of his other mates' blood will completely reverse the curse." The previously quiet room exploded with noise as everyone started to excitedly discuss the possibility of getting the war back on track, returning to the front lines and fighting for equality and ideals that they had long since feared as a lost cause. "There are a few problems that we will have to overcome, the least of which are Voldemorts inner circle. Most of them have grown quite fond of the way the 'Dark Lord' has been doing things. There is also the small matter of the horcruxes. Before we fully cure Tom, it would be best if we return his soul to its former glory. Otherwise we might end up with Voldemort anyway."

"The original curse was stronger even than the spell that creates a horocrux. We might very well find that if blood magic can cure him of the curse, it could pull the pieces of his soul back together. Besides, I think it would be best to get everything settled before sending Harry back to hogwarts. Even with one of his mates there, with Dumbledore as the headmaster he's not completely safe. The old man's used him before, I don't want to see it happen again."

There was a general murmur of agreement before the sound of someone clearing their throat got everyones attention. They all turned to hear the boy in question say "I don't think that that will be too much of a problem..." he could practically feel the raised eybrow of the man sitting next too him. "Harper, You remember the big package I got from Gringotts on my birthday? The one you put up to give to me the day after? Well, it was a list of the assets I gained when I came-of-age. One of which was Gryffindor house and a 3rd of Hogwarts. Apparently, the Potters were the last of the Gryffindor line. I can pretty much do what I want, short of seriously hurting someone, and he can't touch me." Harry glanced at the man next to him nervously, awaitning the usual scorn he recieved because of the others belief that he led an 'undeservedly privileged' life. So he was surprised when all he found was his professor looking at him with curiousity - and something else.

"It would seem, Harry, that there is much I have to learn about you." The longer he looked into those dark depths, the hotter the room seemed to get. Harry started to squirm in his chair, trying to relieve the pressure between his legs. It wasn't until the potions professor looked away that he realized that he had just gotten hard in front of his friends. He was mortified. "Normally, I would say that to assume the outcome of something that has never been tried before is irresponsible, arrogant, and just plain stupid. However I must admit that everything about this whole ordeal has been so much more than 'normal'. I'm willing to give it a chance, but I will not withold the 'I told you so's if it fails."

There were a few chuckles and then the noise in the room started to grow as everyone started working out a plan. Severus rolled his eyes and grabbed Harry's hand. Standing up he made his way through the excited crowd, exiting the library. "Umm.. Professor? Shouldn't we be helping them?" He gave a shout of surprise as the man in question stopped suddenly before turning and pushing him up against the wall. Before he could react, lips were on his and the mans body was pressed as close to his as their position allowed. He couldn't preven himself from thrusting his hips and moaned into his mates mouth when he felt the others hardness in the hollow of his hip.

Slowly, the other man pulled away allowing them to catch their breath. "I assure you Harry, they know what they are doing. They only need my insight into Tom's moods for the fine details and your part in all this has already been played. on the other hand, I can smell the pheromones building. Your thrall is developing. We are going to your bedroom, where I will teach you how to control it - after I Claim you." The last was growled into Harry's ear, sending a shiver down his spine. 'Fuck, thats hot!' he thought, as he was once again pulled down the hall.

A/N:) Another cliffy! This one has taken longer and the grammar is probably crap, but here is the new chapter! Also, I feel that I should warn you that there is a possibility of me ending 'The Enemy Of My Enemy' after Toms return. Don't despair though! If I feel that it is necessary, I will come back to the story after one or two of my other fics are updated or finished and write a sequel. After all, no one likes loose ends. On the other hand, this story has really started to pick up and I might go ahead and finish this first. I'll try to keep my thoughts focused on this story, though, so you guys won't have to deal with the interruption. Either way, I hope you enjoy the chapter!


End file.
